Railway-switch.



PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908'.

M, H. & W. OWEN. RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. $1906.

8%, 9M @wS' No. 897,393. PATENTED SEPT. 1, 1908. M H & W OWEN RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 2, 1906.

3 sHEETs-BHEET 2.

PATENT-ED SEPT. 1, 1908.

No. 897,893. Y M H & W OWEN RAILWAY. SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, 1906. 3 sHB-ETS SHEET 3' MATHEW H. OWEN AND WILLIAM OWEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1908.

Application filed January 2, 1906. Serial No. 294,089.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, MATHEW H. OWEN and WILLIAM OWEN, citizens of the United States, and residents of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Switches and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple automatic switch for railway systems, which will automatically close to main track if left open to a spur or siding, thereby preventing accidents to trains on the main track caused through 0 en switches, the switch being so arranged t at should it be manually opened to the spur for the purpose of admitting a train thereto, it will not close until the truck of the last car has cleared the main track. Said invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts as fully set forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings: Figure 1 represents a plan view of a railway-switch embodying the features of our invention, the switch being shown in connection with a portion of a main track and spur with the switch-stand in section as indicated by line 11 of the succeeding figure; Fig. 2, a cross-section of the same as indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a side elevation partly in section as indicated by line 83 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a detail vertical section of the switch-stand on line 44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, an enlarged cross-section view of the rail and switch controlling strip, showing a car-wheel in engagement with the latter; Fig. 6, a side elevation of the same with the strip in position to be enga ed by the car-wheel; Fig. 7, a detail side e evation of the switch actuating gear, the said gear being shown in the osition assumed when the switch is norma or closed to the main track; Fig. 8, an inverted plan section of same on line 88 of the preceding figure, and Fig. 9, a plan sectional view of said gear in its reverse or open position, the section being indicated by line 9-9 of Fig. 7.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A, A, indicate the rails of a main'track, and B, B, those of a spur therefrom, said s ur being provided with the usual split-switch C, in connection with the main track. The

points of the switch are-connected by a truss-brace E, which is supported and guided in loops F secured to the lower face of the main track rails, under which the trussbrace extends out, having one end thereof projecting beyond the rail. Mounted on this end of said truss-brace is'a boX G, a shank H of which passes through and extends beyond the lower face of the aforesaid brace and carries the head of a rod I, the latter being the operating rod of the switch. The opposite end of rod I is pivoted to a wrist-plate J fast on a vertical stein K of a signal L, the stem being mounted in bearings a, a, of a switch-stand L, secured to the railwayties. The end of rod I connecting the wrist-plate, is provided with a recess I), which is so positioned with relation to the signal stem K that it will straddle the same when the switch is closed, and thereby serve as a means to reduce any strain which would otherwise all come'upon the wristplate pivot of the switch-rod. The recess when engaging the said rod also serves as a lock to prevent the wrist-plate from overthrowing when the switch is in the position as stated above. Upon the upper face of the wrist-plate, and diametrically opposite the pivotal point of rod I, is pivoted a thrust-rod M. The free end of this rod is guided in the box G, and is adapted to impinge against the web of the main track rail A, therebypreventing spread of said rail in opposition to the force applied by the switch-point, when the latter is drawn against the inside of the rail to close said switch'to themain track.

By reason of the location of the pivotpoint of thrust-rod M, upon the wrist-plate, its position when the switch is closed is such that said pivot is in a direct line of the thrust exerted upon the rail. In order to relieve this strain from the pivot of said thrust-rod, the latter is provided with a hooked end 0, which is adapted to straddle the signal stem in the opposite direction from that of recess 6 of the rod I, and thus throw a portion of the thrust upon said stem.

The switch-stand is provided with bearings for a horizontal shaft N, one end of which projects through said stand and carries a counter-weighted handle 0, which is manually thrown to open the switch. Secured to the shaft N within the aforesaid stand is a bevel-gear segment P in mesh with a corresponding segment Q, forming a part of the wrist-plate J, said gear being for the purpose of transmitting motion from the handle O to the switch and its connections. A link R is centrally secured to the truss-rod E, by a stud S depending therefrom, the link extending beyond the track-rails in either direction for the purpose of coupling oppositely disposed arms T, T, of bellcranks U, U, respectively. These bellcranks are pivoted on studs (7., rising from a bracket 6, bolted to the ties at the opposite sides of the switch thrustrod, said cranks being located directly. outside of the tracks, as best illustrated in Fig. 1, of the drawings. The arm V of bell-crank U is connected by a pitman W to a flat strip X, which extends parallel with the outside of the spur-track rail B, and is arranged to rest directly against the side of the tread thereof for en gagcment with the truck-wheels of a train.

'Said'strip is designed to have parallel forward and backward motion upon supporting arms Y trunnioned on studs f, projecting from flanges g, which flanges are bolted to the bottom face of the --rail'flange B, as shown. The bell-crank U, which is located at the opposite side of the track from the one just described, is adjacent to the outside of the main track rail, and has an. arm V connected by a pltman W to a strip X, which strip corresponds in every respect to the strip X previously described, except that it extends in the opposite direction and is arranged to be operated by the truck-wheels of a train upon the main track.

Referring to Fig. 1, of' the drawings, our device as shown is designed to operate in conjunction with trains running in the direction as indicated by the arrows. The ends of strips X, X, adj acent to the switch points, in all cases should be of less distance apart than the space between the wheels of a standard car-truck, so that the tread 'of the front Wheels of the truckwill overlap the strip X (if the train is to be side tracked) before the rear wheels thereof leave the strip X, of the main track. It is also essential to the opera tion of the switch that said strips should be of a length approximately equal to the distance between corresponding axles of the front and rear trucks of a car, so that when a train is running over either strip, at least one truck wheel will be in engagement therewith. The switch-stand may be provided with any suitable means for locking the operators lever or handle 0, when'the latter is down, which position is assumed by gravity to close the switch. For this purpose we have provided a snap-lock g, which projects from the switch-stand, the plug it of the snaplock being arranged to enter a hole t in the handle when the latter sinks to the position as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, of the drawings. To unlock the handle, when the switch is to be thrown open, the operator uses any form of key.

By the above described construction it will be seen that "when the handle is permitted to fall to its normal position, it will automatically lock and thereby dispense with the time required for the operator to lock said switch, and also prevent accidents through neglect in this direction.

In the operation of our device, to sidetrack a train coming in the direction as indicated by the arrow, the switch-lever is un locked and raised to the position asshown in j Fig. 4, of the drawings,this causes the wristplate through its gear connection with the handle, to withdraw the thrust-rod and force the switch-rod 1 forward, thereby opening the switch'to the spur-track. When the above movement takes place it simultaneously rocks both bell-cranks, which through their connection pull their respechowever' shows strips X of the spur track, and is similar to the position taken by the end of strip X. When the strips arein the above described position, their supporting arms Y, havingbeen rocked past the centers of the trunnions f, said strips being slightly above the rail, so that when the first wheel of the trainstrikes strip X, the latter will have a tendency to sink and thus exert a tension through. its connection, to press the switch poin ttightly against themain rail A and hold it there. handle 0, which will remain up until the last wheel of the train has passed over both strips. In the meantime a wheel has engaged strip X of the spurtrack, which will now act upon the switch in the same manner as strip X,

The operator may now release the.

:tive strips X, X, forward to the position as shown in Fig. 6, of the drawings, which view until such time as the last wheel of the train Q shall have passed the end of said strip X, when the weight upon the lever or handle 0 will cause the latter to drop and close the switch.

By the preceding it is obvious thatif the switch is manually operated toftransfer a train from the main track to a spur, the train will hold said switch open until it has cleared said main track, at which timethe weighted handle is free to drop and close the switch.

'- While we have described theoperation of e the switchin connection with a train goingin the direction of the arrow,'it is obvious that the mechanism will operate similar in con nection with a train going the reverse direction or coming on to the main track from the siding. i

We claim 1. In a railway system, the combination of a spur-switch, a weighted operating lever in gear connection therewith, a strip disposed adjacent to the outside rail of the spur in bell-crank connection with the switch, and'a second strip disposed adjacent to the rail of a ceases main track opposite the first named strip, and also in bell-crank connection with said switch.

2. A railway switch, a signal stem, a toothed wrist-plate secured thereto, a rod in connection with the switch and wrist-plate, a thrust-bar connected to saidwrist-plate diametrically opposite the switch rod connection thereof, said thrust-bar being arranged to impinge against the rail when the switch is closed, bell-cranks connected to the switch at either side thereof, reciprocative strips at either side of the railway track and adjacent to the rails thereof, rods connecting said strips and bell cranks, and a weighted 15 lever in gear connection with the aforesaid wrist-plate.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands at Chicago in the county of Cook and State of Illinois in 0 the presence of two witnesses.

MATHEW H. OWEN. WM. OWEN. Witnesses:

G. W. JOHNSTON, A. F. BURNETT. 

